diff --git a/.travis.yml b/.travis.yml
index f0b53ec77..6de58c103 100644
--- a/.travis.yml
+++ b/.travis.yml
@@ -1,6 +1,9 @@
 sudo: required
 language: ruby
-dist: trusty
+dist: bionic
+services:
+  - postgresql
+  - xvfb
 cache:
   bundler: true
   directories:
@@ -16,26 +19,28 @@ addons:
       secure: "PfhLGBKRgNqhKuYCJsK+VPhdAzcgWFGeeOyxC/eS8gtlvIISVdgyZE+r30uIei0DFI6zEiN62eW4d+xtT4j7/e2ZcAcx7U52mza/SnQNuu3nCGQDJB8VOvV5NbnwXfi8vfr4e889Mt7k3ocd2c4gqB4UtRqrzhygj7HN+B/GfEk="
 env:
   matrix:
-    - COVERAGE=true
+    # - ELASTIC_SEARCH_VERSION="7.5.1-amd64" COVERAGE=true RAILS_ENV=test # Future target (production needs upgrading)
+    # - ELASTIC_SEARCH_VERSION="6.7.1" COVERAGE=true RAILS_ENV=test # last 6.x release
+    - ELASTIC_SEARCH_VERSION="6.2.3" COVERAGE=true RAILS_ENV=test # matches productions
     - STATIC_CHECKS=true
   global:
     - secure: "Z5TpM2jEX4UCvNePnk/LwltQX48U2u9BRc+Iypr1x9QW2o228QJhPIOH39a8RMUrepGnkQIq9q3ZRUn98RfrJz1yThtlNFL3NmzdQ57gKgjGwfpa0e4Dwj/ZJqV2D84tDGjvdVYLP7zzaYZxQcwk/cgNpzKf/jq97HLNP7CYuf4="
-    - GROWSTUFF_EMAIL="noreply@test.growstuff.org"
+    - GROWSTUFF_EMAIL="noreply@test.growstuff.org"g
     - GROWSTUFF_SITE_NAME="Growstuff (travis)"
     - RAILS_SECRET_TOKEN='xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx'
 before_install:
   - sudo apt clean
-  # - sudo apt update
+  - sudo apt update
   - sudo apt install dpkg
   - sudo apt install google-chrome-stable
   - ./script/install_linters.sh
-  - ELASTIC_SEARCH_VERSION="6.2.3" ./script/install_elasticsearch.sh
+  - ./script/install_elasticsearch.sh
 script:
   - >
     if [ "${STATIC_CHECKS}" = "true" ]; then
       ./script/check_static.rb
     else
-      RAILS_ENV=test bundle exec rake db:create db:migrate search:reindex assets:precompile;
+      bundle exec rake db:create db:migrate search:reindex assets:precompile;
       npx percy exec -- bundle exec rspec spec
     fi;
 after_script:
diff --git a/script/install_elasticsearch.sh b/script/install_elasticsearch.sh
index d3a36cfc6..ba533782e 100755
--- a/script/install_elasticsearch.sh
+++ b/script/install_elasticsearch.sh
@@ -3,14 +3,42 @@
 if [[ -z "$ELASTIC_SEARCH_VERSION" ]]; then
   echo "ELASTIC_SEARCH_VERSION variable not set"
 else
-  set -euv
+  echo "Downloading Elasticsearch ${ELASTIC_SEARCH_VERSION}"
   sudo dpkg -r elasticsearch
+
+
   wget "https://artifacts.elastic.co/downloads/elasticsearch/elasticsearch-${ELASTIC_SEARCH_VERSION}.deb"
   wget "https://artifacts.elastic.co/downloads/elasticsearch/elasticsearch-${ELASTIC_SEARCH_VERSION}.deb.sha512"
+
   shasum -a 512 -c "elasticsearch-${ELASTIC_SEARCH_VERSION}.deb.sha512"
+
+  echo "Installing Elasticsearch ${ELASTIC_SEARCH_VERSION}"
   sudo dpkg -i --force-confnew "elasticsearch-${ELASTIC_SEARCH_VERSION}.deb"
 
-  sudo service elasticsearch start
-  sleep 10
-  curl -v localhost:9200
+  echo "Starting Elasticsearch ${ELASTIC_SEARCH_VERSION}"
+  # sudo service elasticsearch start
+  sudo systemctl start elasticsearch
+
+  host="localhost:9200"
+  response=""
+  attempt=0
+  maxattempts=25
+
+  # this would wait forever
+  # until curl --silent -XGET --fail ${host} do printf '.'; sleep 1; done
+
+  until [ "$response" = "200" ]; do
+      if [ $attempt -ge ${maxattempts} ]; then
+        echo "FAILED. Elasticsearch not responding after $attempt tries."
+        sudo tail /var/log/elasticsearch/*.log
+        exit 1
+      fi
+      echo "Contacting Elasticsearch on ${host}. Try number ${attempt}"
+      response=$(curl --write-out %{http_code} --silent --output /dev/null $host)
+
+      sleep 1
+      attempt=$((attempt+1))
+  done
 fi
+
+echo "SUCCESS. Elasticsearch is responding."